Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. A computer-implemented method comprising: identifying, at a portable computing device, media content that is accessible from a remote computing device via a network; receiving user input associated with a particular media content item of the media content, the user input indicating selection of an option to send media to a second device, wherein the user input does not identify the second device; generating a message in response to the user input, wherein the message includes information identifying the particular media content item; sending the message from the portable computing device to an application server; receiving, at the portable computing device from the application server, a query to specify a destination device for the particular media content from a listing of available destination devices when the application server identifies more than one available destination device; and sending, from the portable computing device to the application server, a second message that causes the application server to send information to the destination device specified in the second message without routing the information to the destination device via the portable computing device, wherein the information causes the destination device to automatically play the particular media content item.
A user on a mobile device selects media content (like a video) available on a remote server. Instead of playing it on the phone, they choose an option to "send to another device" (like a smart TV). The phone creates a message identifying the chosen media and sends it to an application server. If the server knows of multiple devices linked to the user, it asks the phone to pick one. The phone sends that device selection back to the server. Finally, the server tells the chosen device (TV) directly to play the media content, without the phone acting as an intermediary for the video stream.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a success message from the application server when the information is sent to the destination device.
The method described above, where a user sends media from their phone to another device, includes a final confirmation step. After the application server successfully sends the information to the destination device (TV), instructing it to play the content, the application server sends a "success" message back to the user's phone, confirming that the media is playing on the chosen device.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving search criteria from a user of the portable computing device, wherein the portable computing device identifies the media content based on the search criteria.
In the method where a user sends media from their phone to another device, the process begins with the user entering search terms on their phone. The phone then uses these search terms to find the media content that the user wants to play on the other device. The identified media content is then available for the user to select and send as described in claim 1.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising sending a search query to a search engine.
The method described above includes the mobile device sending the user's specified search terms to a search engine in order to identify media content that can then be sent to another device for playback as described in claim 3.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the search engine is a public search engine, a private search engine associated with a content provider associated with the destination device, a local service search engine associated with a particular device associated with the portable computing device, or a combination thereof.
The search engine used for finding media content on the phone, as described in the previous process, can be a public search engine (like Google), a private search engine specifically for content from the device's provider (like Netflix), a search engine for services on devices directly connected to the phone, or any combination of these options.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media content is available from a content provider other than a service provider for the portable computing device.
The media content the user selects on their phone to send to another device is not limited to content from the user's mobile carrier or phone service provider. It can be content available from any provider, broadening the range of accessible media for playback on the destination device.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the media content includes media content stored at a media recorder associated with the destination device, media content that is available to the destination device based on a service tier associated with the destination device, media content scheduled for transmission by a content provider, or on-demand media content.
The available media content that a user can send from their phone to another device includes various types of media. This includes content stored on a media recorder connected to the destination device (like a DVR), content the destination device can access based on the user's subscription level, content that is scheduled for future broadcast, and on-demand content available for immediate streaming.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the message includes information identifying a network address at the remote computing device, the network address corresponding to the particular media content item.
When the mobile device sends a message to the application server to play media on another device, the message includes the specific network address (like a URL) where the media content is located on the remote server. This address allows the destination device to directly access and play the selected media.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the portable computing device includes a mobile communication device.
The portable computing device used to select and send media content to another device is a mobile communication device, such as a smartphone or tablet.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sending the message from the portable computing device to the application server comprises sending the message via a mobile communication network.
The message sent from the phone to the application server, which instructs the destination device to play the media, is sent over a mobile communication network, such as a cellular network (4G, 5G).
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second device is identifiable by data stored at a database accessible to the application server, and wherein the application server queries the database to determine the listing of possible destination devices.
The application server identifies the other device (the TV, for example) based on information stored in a database it can access. The server queries this database to find a list of potential destination devices associated with the user's account or the portable device initiating the request.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sending the message from the portable computing device to the application server comprises sending the message via a residential gateway, wherein the second device is identifiable by data stored at a database accessible to the application server, and wherein the application server queries the database to determine the listing of possible destination devices associated with the residential gateway.
The phone sends the message to play media on another device to the application server through a residential gateway (like a home Wi-Fi router). The application server identifies the other device by querying a database containing devices connected to that gateway. The server uses this database to determine a list of possible destination devices connected to the residential gateway.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising receiving a success message from the application server when second information is sent from the application server to a particular device in response to the message, wherein the second information is sent to the particular device from the application server when the application server determines that the listing of possible destination devices includes only the particular device, and wherein the second information causes the particular device to automatically play the particular media content item.
Building on the previous method, if the application server determines that only one device is available as a destination via the residential gateway, the application server automatically sends instructions directly to that device to play the selected media. After the device starts playing, the application server sends a success message back. This eliminates the need for the user to select a device if only one is available.
14. A system comprising: a processor of an application server; and a memory accessible to the processor, the memory comprising instructions executable by the processor to perform operations comprising: receiving a message from a portable computing device via a mobile communication network, wherein the message includes information identifying a network address of a particular media content item, and wherein the message fails to identify a destination device for the particular media content item; determining a listing of devices associated with the portable computing device, wherein each device in the listing of devices is able to play media content; identifying a particular device from the listing of devices to play the particular media content item; determining whether the particular device is able to play the particular media content item based on a format of the particular content item; and sending a command to the particular device via a wide area network different than the mobile communication network when the particular device is able to play the particular media content item based on the format, wherein the command causes the particular device to access the particular media content item at the network address and causes the particular device to play the particular media content item.
An application server system handles media playback requests. When it receives a message from a mobile device to play media, the message includes the media's network address (URL) but doesn't specify which device to play it on. The server identifies a list of possible devices associated with the phone. It then checks if the chosen device can play the media format. If so, the server sends a command over a wide-area network (internet) to the device, telling it to access the media at the given address and start playing it.
15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the operations further include: accessing the particular media content item at the network address when the particular device is not able to play the particular media content item based on the format; transcoding the particular media content item into a transcoded particular media content item, wherein the transcoded particular media content item is in a format that the particular device is able to play; and sending the transcoded particular media content item to the particular device.
Expanding on the previous system, if the application server determines the destination device cannot play the media format, it first retrieves the media. It then converts (transcodes) the media into a compatible format. Finally, it sends the transcoded media to the destination device for playback.
16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the particular device is a set top box device.
In the media playback system, the "other device" or destination device that the phone is sending the media to is a set-top box (like a cable box or streaming device).
17. The system of claim 14 , wherein the particular device is identified based on a user account associated with the portable computing device.
The application server identifies the destination device based on the user account associated with the portable computing device that initiated the request to play media on another device.
18. The system of claim 14 , wherein the identifying the particular device comprises: sending the listing of devices to the portable computing device when the listing of devices includes more than a single device; and receiving a selection of the particular device from the portable computing device in response to sending the listing of devices.
In the media playback system, if the application server finds multiple devices that can play the media, it sends the list of devices back to the phone. The user then selects a device from the list, and the phone sends the selection back to the server.
19. A computer-readable storage device comprising instructions, that when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: receiving a message from a portable computing device via a residential gateway, wherein the message includes information identifying a network address of a particular media content item, and wherein the message fails to identify a destination device for the particular media content item; determining a listing of devices associated with the residential gateway, wherein each device in the listing of devices is able to play media content; identifying a particular device from the listing of devices to play the particular media content item; determining whether the particular device is able to play the particular media content item based on a format of the particular media content item; and sending a command to the particular device via the residential gateway when the particular device is able to play the particular media content item based on the format, wherein the command causes the particular device to access the particular media content item at the network address and automatically play the particular media content item.
A computer storage device contains instructions that, when run, cause a server to: receive a media playback request from a phone via a home network router. The request specifies the media's network address (URL) but not the playback device. The server identifies devices connected to the router that can play media, checks if the chosen device supports the media format, and then instructs that device to access and play the media. This command is sent through the home network router.
20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 19 , wherein the identifying the particular device from the listing of devices comprises: identifying the particular device as a device in the listing of devices when the listing of devices includes a single device; sending a query to the portable computing device to select the particular device from the listing of devices when the listing of devices includes more than one device; and receiving an indicator of the particular device from the portable computing device in response to the query.
In the media playback system using a residential gateway, the process of identifying which device to play the media on involves: If only one device is found, it's automatically selected. If multiple devices are found, the server sends a request to the phone asking the user to select which device to use. The server then receives the user's selection from the phone.
Unknown
November 4, 2014
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